Posts Tagged ‘ab 1266’

100 days ago, the Supreme Court struck down the central portion of the Defense of Marriage Act, and dismissed the last gasp appeal of the Prop. 8 supporters, returning the freedom to marry to California. Across the country, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people cheered along with allies who supported the vision of an America where everyone could marry the person that they love.

Since then, we’ve seen a parade of victories at the federal level, from the Department of Homeland Security allowing same-sex spouses full immigration privileges to the IRS issuing new rules to make sure loving same-sex couples are recognized, to the first same-sex weddings on U.S. military bases. We’ve seen big marriage victories in New Mexico and New Jersey, and we’ve seen the roll-out of the biggest advance in LGBT healthcare in our lifetimes with the Affordable Care Act.

Here in California, we’ve seen the federal courts uphold SB 1172, which ended the psychological abuse of LGBT youth by licensed therapists, we’ve seen transgender students win both with the passage and signing of the School Success and Opportunity Act (AB 1266), which ensures that transgender students can participate as their authentic selves in school, and at the Arcadia Unified School District, which settled a lawsuit and implemented policies to ensure transgender equality. Read the rest of this entry »

Arcadia Settles With Transgender Student; To Apply District-Wide Protections For Transgender Students

The Arcadia Unified School District has settled with a transgender boy over the discriminatory treatment he received on a school camping trip (PDF of the settlement here.)

The boy, represented by our friends at the NCLR, won districtwide accommodations for not just himself, but every transgender student in the district. Arcadia USD will now join districts like LAUSD and San Francisco USD in making sure that transgender students aren’t excluded from activities, sports and facilities just because of who they are.

Congressmember Judy Chu, whose district includes Arcadia, said: “Teenage years are hard enough to navigate when the only concerns are making friends and learning the lessons of the day. But those challenges are compounded when a teenager happens to be LGBT, and basic notions of equal treatment are brought into question. The fact that this young man was excluded from using school facilities is regrettable to say the least, but thanks to his decision to act and not accept the circumstances he faced, others will not face the same discrimination.”

The United States investigated this complaint under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Both Title IX and Title IV prohibit discrimination against students based on sex.
Under the settlement agreement, the district will:
• work with a consultant to support and assist the district in creating a safe, nondiscriminatory learning environment for students who are transgender or do not conform to gender stereotypes;
• amend its policies and procedures to reflect that gender-based discrimination, including discrimination based on a student’s gender identity, transgender status, and nonconformity with gender stereotypes, is a form of discrimination based on sex; and
• train administrators and faculty on preventing gender-based discrimination and creating a nondiscriminatory school environment for transgender students.

The School Success and Opportunity Act (AB 1266), authored by Tom Ammianno and sponsored by EQCA, NCLR, ACLU of California, the GSA Network and Transgender Law Center, would mean that instead of having to fight each school district in court, all California school districts would have sane, safe policies for ending the exclusion of transgender students. Urge Gov. Brown to sign the School Success and Opportunity Act by filling out our action alert.